Insights on Inbound Marketing vs Outbound Marketing

The marketing department in any organization gets the largest share of resource allocation in the annual budget. This is both in terms of human resource and financial resources.Most employees in other departments look at the marketers with envy, since more often than not, they have company cars allocated to them, entertainment allowances and they are never in the office. So their job looks interesting and easy, but is it?

Given the number of man hours marketers spend daily, most of which involve cold calling, I am not sure they will agree with you that their job is easy . Remember there are some stringent conditions they must meet namely sales targets, to justify their position in the company. But does it have to be this hard to attract clients, especially in this age where technology greatly influences our lives everyday? This is where inbound marketing vs outbound marketing becomes distinctively clear.

Inbound Marketing vs Outbound Marketing: The Distinction

Outbound marketing is the traditional marketing method, where you have to use various media channels such as radio and Tv adverts, then there are bill boards and neon signs. All these you will agree with me are intrusive methods of marketing. Am sure you have experienced this intrusion first hand through some an inappropriate advert right in the middle of your favorite movie or soap.

While looking at inbound marketing vs outbound marketing one aspect you will come to appreciate is the cost element. Outbound marketing is pretty expensive and most start up companies can not afford this kind of marketing. So it does not level the playing field, since the more money you have to spend then the more advertising space you can buy. This gives those companies with financial muscle a clear advantage over everybody else.

The beauty about inbound marketing is that it follows a permission marketing model, where you market your products and services to an audience that is already in need of them. Inbound marketing involves activities such as website development, social media marketing, blogging, email marketing and optimization. I will only engage with your products or services because I want to and it will not be forced on me like in outbound marketing.

Inbound Marketing vs Outbound Marketing: The Strategy

More and more companies are realizing the need to get involved in inbound marketing vs outbound marketing. Any company that wants to succeed in this era of technology where communities on various internet platforms are growing in size daily, then it is inevitable that they must get online.

Your best inbound marketing strategy must involve creating a website, creating and optimizing content round the brand and using social media to hang out where your prospective customers are hanging out. Inbound marketing is a relationship based strategy where you aim at building relationships with your audience, gain their trust and eventually convert these leads to sales.

Unlike outbound marketing where you seem to be making loud noise to a deaf crowd, in inbound marketing clients have an opportunity to interact with you. You get immediate feedback through comments on your blog posts, newsletters, emails and on your interactions on social media. This gives you the opportunity to model you products and services to suit the needs of your clients.

Benefits of Inbound Marketing vs Outbound Marketing

There are numerous benefits of inbound marketing vs outbound marketing such as :-

It levels that playing field – leveraging such that no matter how deep your company pockets a, inbound marketing is not dependent on it.

It is affordable since it is more about investing time than financial resources.

It is more targeted to a specific audience.

It is limitless/border-less since the internet is global.

You can measure results of your marketing initiatives through site statistics.

There is always room to reach out to more people.

When all is said and done inbound marketing vs outbound marketing has a clear advantage and is the way of future marketing.

Pauline is the CEO at Allen Cole, also consults for iWork and Elite Writers Hub. She works with small and medium size organizations to increase their visibility online through corporate blogging, content creation, website development and social media engagement.

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About The Author

Pauline is the CEO at Allen Cole, also consults for iWork and Elite Writers Hub. She works with small and medium size organizations to increase their visibility online through corporate blogging, content creation, website development and social media engagement.